Court rules retrial of 7 defendants in Ismailia clashes case

The Port Said Criminal Court on Sunday ruled on the retrial of seven defendants in the case known as the “Ismailia clashes”.

The court decided the retrial of two defendants will occur on 22 August. It also handed defendant Mohamed Al-Sayed three years prison and ordered the release of five other people.

The court required the defendants to pay the costs of the properties they destroyed during the clashes.

The defendants previously received life sentences in May along with 35 others in the case, including Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie.

On 5 July 2013, clashes occurred between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and security forces that came to disperse the sit-in in front of the headquarters of the General Diwan in Ismailia governorate. Dozen were injured and three were killed during the clashes.

Dozens of cases looking into post-Rabaa Al-Adaweya violence have been referred to Egyptian courts, where hundreds of defendants have faced charges of sabotage, rioting, and murder. The Brotherhood rejects these trials in general, arguing they are part of the “coup regime’s measures to oppress the revolution”. Conversely, the Egyptian government defends these measures, “defending the Egyptian state from a planned plot”.